Responding to Wrath With Calm
It’s strange but true: We sometimes fail to acknowledge the most important thing in the universe. That would be bechirah, Hashem’s astonishing gift of free will to mankind. We humans are able to choose...
Now We Can Really Daven Together
A first-person piece I wrote about the opportunities offered by davening at home appears in Forward, and can be accessed here.
Shiva and Isolation In a World of Mourners (Part 1)
Until beating a hasty retreat while I could still find a flight back to Israel, I was sitting shiva[1] for my mother הכ”ם in Brooklyn. It was eerie. We have come to think of...
Two Thoughts about You-Know-What
Surprisingly (he said with sarcasm), I’ve been giving some thought to the current pandemic. Specifically, to the unprecedented closures of shuls and yeshivos. In the absence of a prophet, no one can claim to...
Plagues Past and Present
It’s been some 700 years since the bubonic plague ravaged central Asia, killing millions of people. A decade or two later, in October, 1347, a ship from the Crimea docked in Messina, Sicily. Rats...
My Purim’s Highlight
My Purim’s highlight this year was an interaction I had with two little boys, no older than 8 or 9. The shul I attend is often visited by a number of “collectors” asking for...
Masquerading as Feminism
Due to circumstances beyond my control, I didn’t have a column in Hamodia this week, but thought I’d post a Purim-themed thought I wrote several years ago. A joyous and meaningful Purim to all!...
WZO Election: Vote (No Longer) Early, Vote (Not) Often, and Still Appreciate the Moetzes
Cynics rejoice at the spectacle of rabbis sparring with each other. Supporters of the Moetzes Gedolei Torah groan in disbelief. Both reactions, however, are uncalled for. The internecine conflict regarding the WZO elections continues,...
Stop and Think
Politicians would serve themselves well to always keep in mind Rabi Yehudah Hanasi’s admonition: “An eye sees, an ear hears, and all your deeds are written in a book” (Avos 2:1). Most public servants...
Drinking in Moderation: On Purim and Beyond
by Rabbi Yaakov Hoffman The attempts of Jewish leaders to rein in alcohol abuse, on Purim and in general, have not been met with much success. The conclusion is inescapable: It is time to...